Greenham Tasmania has confirmed its strong support for new developments at Agritas Trade College by committing $340,000 to the new artisan cheese factory.

“We have been long term supporters of Agritas and we are delighted to make this considerable donation to further the interest of this community project,” said Managing Director Peter Greenham Jr in announcing the funding.

“Agritas is important to Greenhams, and when the opportunity to resource a cheese factory was presented to us by the Agritas board, we saw a great opportunity to support the Circular Head community.”

Genaro Velasquez and Rosselyn Escalante also confirmed they will be leasing the factory based at the Robotic Dairy. Earlier this year, the pair were named Tasmanian Share Dairy Farmers of the Year.

“We are both thrilled at the opportunity that Agritas and Greenhams have provided to us to fulfill our dream to establish and operate the factory to make soft and semi-hard cheeses, including those similar to cheese originating from South America,” said Genaro.

Genaro and Rosselyn, who moved to Australia from Venezuela in 2009, are both qualified veterinarians with sizeable experience in the dairy industry.

“We are making changes in our lives after discovering our true passion for making cheese.”

Genaro recently graduated as a Master Cheesemaker and has been experimenting with cheese making for some time.

“We have the vision and the passion to establish, grow and transform the business into an icon of the area and a must-stop for visitors.”

In a statement, Mr Greenham said “Greenham’s values align very closely to the proposed cheese factory, so we look forward to a long association with the factory.

“We look forward to tasting some of the high value cheese being planned and believe they will enhance the reputation of this area.

“It would be great to market beef and cheese one day and we are optimistic that the plans Agritas has are both promising and exciting.”

Construction on the robotic dairy and cheese factory started on Monday.